Reoccurring Messages About Creating/updating virtual directories

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

What does this message entry means in the agent logs on a Package Server?

Creating/updating virtual directory '/pkggroup_{3b01b652-7ea0-47b6-942e-bc4d10b11984}', physical path: '\\SWDSHARE\SWL\Microsoft\VisualStudioTeamFoundationServer2015PowerTool'
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Date: 3/15/2021 10:43:13 AM, Tick Count: 119233562 (1.09:07:13.5620000), Size: 423 B
Process: AeXNSAgent.exe (2644), Thread ID: 8712, Module: AeXNSCPackageServer.dll
Priority: 4, Source: Package Server Agent

Is it normal to see many entries for this type of message, sometimes repeating during the day?

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Resolution

This informational message refers to the process of refreshing virtual directories for packages. In this case:

Creating/updating virtual directory '/pkggroup_{3b01b652-7ea0-47b6-942e-bc4d10b11984}', physical path: '\\SWDSHARE\SWL\Microsoft\VisualStudioTeamFoundationServer2015PowerTool'

this refers to a package that resides in a SMB path, a network share setup for that specific file. 

You may see many of these entries displayed multiple times during the day when new package policies are received, since the package server agent needs to re-evaluate the current packages and their virtual directory references. Usually there is a single virtual directory with default location ("group" virtual directory), where all packages reside. All other "exceptions" like packages with custom location has their own virtual directories, since they have a unique custom path to binaries. 

It is recommended to avoid custom locations for each package so you can't avoid problems with IIS and hundreds of virtual directories (one for each package with a custom location). 

Additional Information

KB 214168 "Having multiple messages in the agent logs about the virtual directories are creating/updating"